Grade 3 Curriculum

Our units of study in grade three are intentionally designed to encourage students to embrace a love of literacy and reading.  This is an important stage for readers and writers, as they move from mastering the foundational skills needed toward applying them to learn about their world.  We intentionally support students to become independent problem solvers while they read, recognizing when they don’t understand something they have read. We teach the metacognitive strategies that all good readers use when they recognize a breakdown in understanding, and support students to apply these strategies with increasing independence.  At this grade level reading chapter books (longer stories organized in chapters) is a major focus, and we specifically teach students how to navigate these texts and motivate them to want to do this regularly on their own. 

Writing is also a strong focus of our literacy work in grade 3.  Students learn about the features of different types of writing, and then apply what they have learned to their own writing.  They write daily to capture their thinking about what they are reading or learning, and to deepen and refine that thinking. They also write more extended pieces in a variety of genres, including narrative, informational, and argument.  Talk is an equally important part of our approach. Students have regular opportunities to share and build their thinking with classmates; these structured opportunities support language development, help develop social skills, support increasing independence, and refine growing understandings.

Foundational skills remain an important strand in grade 3.  We use the Wilson Fundations curriculum, as we do in grades  K - 2.  This continues our instruction in phonics, helping students master the skills necessary to efficient decoding while reading and capturing the key sounds in writing.  In addition to the daily lessons, students are provided with additional daily practice applying those skills to actual reading and writing, as well as small group instructional support, as needed.

 

In Grade 3, the Illustrative Mathematics curriculum is designed to progressively build upon foundational concepts. Each unit connects to and extends ideas from previous units, weaving a coherent mathematical narrative throughout the year. The Illustrative Math Curriculum uses a problem-based learning approach, ensuring that students not only master grade-level content but also develop critical, lifelong cognitive skills. This methodology deepens conceptual understanding, promotes active learning, and fosters skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and perseverance. The curriculum is designed to be student-centered, encouraging inquiry, collaboration, and active engagement with challenging real-world problems. The curriculum builds third grade students' understanding of fundamental math concepts through eight units:

Unit 1: Introducing Multiplication
Students explore multiplication through the context of graphs, learning to interpret and represent data on scaled graphs. They connect multiplication with equal groups and arrays, recognizing the commutative property. This unit builds on Grade 2 skills in graph analysis and skip-counting.

Unit 2: Area and Multiplication
Focusing on area concepts, students relate the area of rectangles to multiplication, applying their knowledge of shapes and lengths from Grade 2. They learn to measure area using unit squares and explore standard units of area.

Unit 3: Wrapping Up Addition and Subtraction Within 1,000
Strengthening their Grade 2 foundations in addition and subtraction, students learn to round numbers and solve two-step word problems using these operations along with multiplication.

Unit 4: Relating Multiplication to Division
Introducing the concept of division, this unit emphasizes its relationship to multiplication. Students work with division as finding the size of each group or the number of groups, consolidating their multiplication skills within 100.

Unit 5: Fractions as Numbers
Students gain an understanding of fractions, particularly unit fractions. They represent fractions on diagrams and number lines, building on their Grade 2 knowledge of partitioning shapes into equal parts.

Unit 6: Measuring Length, Time, Liquid Volume, and Weight
This unit extends measurement skills, focusing on length, weight, liquid volume, and time. Students measure in standard units, enhancing their understanding of mixed numbers and equivalent fractions.

Unit 7: Two-dimensional Shapes and Perimeter
Students explore two-dimensional shapes, focusing on quadrilaterals, and learn about perimeters. They apply their knowledge of shapes and area to solve perimeter-related problems.

Unit 8: Putting It All Together
The final unit revisits key concepts from the year, including fractions, perimeter, area, and scaled graphs. Students engage in activities to consolidate their learning and prepare for the transition to Grade 4.

For more detailed information on the specifics of the Grade 3 Illustrative Math curriculum, click here.

Science

Students in grades 3 - 5 work together to become scientists through the Amplify Science curriculum. In science class, students study natural phenomena through a combination of real-life demonstrations, hands-on experiments, and online simulations. Amplify Science also helps students to develop non-fiction literacy skills through reading and writing about science.